Debrecen4U
June 24, 2026
Results Announced for Debrecen’s Community Budgeting Programme
The municipality will support the implementation of projects proposed by 16 teams in the participatory budgeting programme Com’ON, organised for the first time in Debrecen. The results of the competition were announced by Deputy Mayor István Puskás at the Great Forest Water Tower on 23 June 2026.
Before announcing the results, István Puskás said that this was the first time the City Hall had organised a participatory budgeting programme, and he expressed his delight that 16 teams had shown sufficient determination and courage to embark on this venture for the first time in Debrecen’s history. As he explained, the young participants came up with their own projects and are entrusting their implementation to the community. “Participatory budgeting is a unique model that seeks to support the life of a community by entrusting not only the development of different initiatives, but also the related decision-making and, ultimately, their implementation, to the community itself,” he said.
The deputy mayor recalled that, in the first phase, secondary school students in Debrecen were invited to reflect on areas where they perceived shortcomings in the city and to present how they would like to contribute towards addressing those needs. The community was then able to decide on the proposals, with local residents voting on the submitted ideas.
István Puskás explained that each of the top ten teams would receive HUF 300,000 to manage their project, but in order for everyone to share in the experience of success, the teams that did not make it into the top ten would also receive HUF 200,000 each, enabling them to make meaningful progress in implementing their ideas.
Com’ON is a youth participation programme established in Cluj-Napoca in 2015, providing young people and communities with the opportunity to shape the life of their city through their own ideas while receiving support to implement them. It has since been recognised as a European best practice through the European Union’s URBACT network and is now present in a dozen cities across six European countries. The Com’ON Debrecen 2026 project is being implemented with the support of the Municipality of the City of Debrecen and the European Union. According to the call for proposals, submitted ideas had to be linked to the themes of culture, sustainability, wellbeing, health, or social engagement.
The Com’ON Debrecen participatory budgeting programme will support the following projects:
Teens4EU – Young People to Young People About Europe (Competition)
Event for Emerging Artists
Cultural Evenings for Young People in Debrecen
Make It a Shared Space
A Taste of the World
Locked Together
Saint Ladislaus School Tram Stop – Live Consciously
Your Project, Your Future 2026
Get Moving with Saint Ladislaus School
Agora Hajdúság Project
Snap Out of It – Theatre and Reality in the Shadow of INSTANT
Debi – Debrecen’s Digital Tour Guide
Mental Breakdown
Wandering Hussar Cultural Restaurant
BeugRoom 2.0 – Digital Workplace Development Programme
Debate for Everyone
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
